Club captain Andy Smith was the hat-trick hero on Sunday as his three goals, alongside a pair from Ryan Ellis and singles from Nicky Lewis, Callum Fowler, Justin Noble and Anthony Lennon, saw the Invicta Dynamos overcome the Bracknell Hornets 9-3 on home ice.

In the first period the hosts were quickest off of the mark and had the lead inside five minutes when Nicky Lewis fired a backhand shot beyond netminder David Wride following a pass from Ryan Ellis. The visitors hit back quickly though and answered on the powerplay as Tom Fisher tucked in a rebound to convert on a 3-on-1 counter attack.

However, the Dynamos would add three without reply ahead of the break to hold a commanding 4-1 edge as the teams returned to the changing rooms. Callum Fowler claimed the first of the trio as he steered around a grounded goalie before firing in, Andy Smith tallied his side’s third as he escaped on the breakaway and Justin Noble poked in at the back stick to secure the three goal cushion.

In the second period that lead was extended when Andy Smith again escaped beyond the Bracknell back line and duly converted when his side were a man down. Having conceded on the powerplay, the Hornets then made use of the extra skater with Alan Lack sending the puck into the far corner from between the faceoff circles to cut the deficit to 5-2 but, just as they did in the first, the hosts finished the frame by tallying three without answer.

Canadian Ryan Ellis sent a wrist shot over the reach of David Wride from the right wing to make it 6-2, Anthony Lennon drilled a slapshot into the roof of the target following a faceoff in the offensive zone for a seventh and Andy Smith completed his hat-trick for number eight by converting on a 2-on-1 counter up the ice.

The hosts were comfortable heading into the last then but a match penalty to Dan Fudger threatened to take the shine off of the evening after he clashed with Hornet Alan Lack and threw the only punches in a brief tussle well behind the play.

Nevertheless the Dynamos added a ninth to their tally midway through when Ryan Ellis roofed the puck into the top of the net to make it 9-2 though the Hornets claimed the last of the night when Tom Fisher bundled in beyond Lee Freeman – a second period replacement for Andy Moffat in net – at close range whilst Alastair Band sat an interference minor.

So it was a routine victory for the hosts who, despite a lack of numbers, still proved too strong for a relatively shortbenched Bracknell outfit. Man of the match awards on the night went to Tony Barclay for the Hornets whilst former rec shot stopper Lee Freeman took the honours for the Dynamos after coming agonisingly close to claiming a shutout in his 26 minutes on the ice.

From here the team now prepare for a double header weekend that begins at home at 5.15pm on Saturday against the Slough ENL Jets before a trip to Chelmsford to face the Chieftains in what is now a ‘dead rubber’ in the ENIHL Southern Cup the following night.

Picture by David Trevallion